At a remote cargo dock in Yun Port City, the morning mist had not yet fully dispersed, shrouding the river’s surface in a haze.
A woman dressed in coarse linen, her head wrapped tightly in a thick scarf and the sides of her face concealed by a cloth, stood nervously on the shore.
In one hand, she tightly held onto a clueless little boy who had just turned five, while her other hand was gripped firmly by a teenager of about fifteen who was unusually tall and powerfully built.
The teen’s features faintly resembled Ma Sanlie’s, and his eyes held a wariness far beyond his years.
This was none other than Ma Sanlie’s wife, Ding Wuxuan, and her two sons.
Suddenly, a flash of guilt crossed the fifteen-year-old’s eyes, and he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice.
"Mother, we’re just leaving like this... Will those two senior brothers be alright?"
Hearing this, Ding Wuxuan tightened her grip on her son’s hand and said coldly, "Zheng, remember this: from now on, you are never to mention those two again."
"They have nothing to do with us. Your father died at the hands of that woman from the Gong Family. This is a blood feud, and we must have our revenge!"
"The day your martial arts reach mastery, you must return and kill that bitch with your own hands to avenge your father!"
Ma Zheng gritted his teeth. "But Mother... Father’s martial arts were so advanced, and even he couldn’t defeat that woman. How can we...?"
"It won’t be like that!"
Ding Wuxuan cut her son off, her voice growing crazed. "Your father left us an ace in the hole!"
"That thing... as long as we find the right opportunity to use it, there’s still hope!"
She paused. "And if it comes to that, as a last resort, I’ll find a way to get that thing to the black market. I’ll use it to post a massive bounty and hire those death-seeking mercenaries to assassinate the Gong Family! Especially that woman!"
Just then, a small, dilapidated wooden sailboat slowly approached the simple dock.
The boatman was a taciturn old man.
Ding Wuxuan hurriedly pulled out several hundred-Daxia-Yuan notes and handed them over, then quickly led her two sons into the swaying boat cabin.
Only when the wooden boat had left the shore and sailed into the misty heart of the river did she finally let out a long sigh of relief.
The boat cabin was small and dim. Besides the mother and her two sons, two or three other ordinary passengers were huddled in the corners, keeping to themselves.
Ding Wuxuan found a relatively clean spot to sit, pulling her younger son into her lap. Her older son sat vigilantly by her side, his eyes occasionally sweeping over the other passengers.
Just as the boat reached the center of the river, a square-faced man in his fifties, who wore a black long-sleeved robe and had been resting with his eyes closed in the opposite corner, slowly opened them.
His gaze fell directly upon Ding Wuxuan.
At his stare, Ding Wuxuan instinctively averted her gaze and pulled her headscarf lower, assuming it was just the idle curiosity of a fellow passenger.
The man, however, spoke. "You are Ma Sanlie’s widow, Ding Wuxuan, are you not?"
At these words, Ding Wuxuan’s head snapped up, and her headscarf slipped off, revealing her beautiful face.
The man ignored her shock and continued in a flat tone, "That Ma Sanlie’s innate talent was truly exceptional. Back then, I even considered having him marry into our Gong Family so we could cultivate his abilities."
"A pity that he was like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. He was too greedy and squandered the opportunity."
After a few moments, Ding Wuxuan managed to force out a weak, despairing plea, "Senior, please, can you spare my two sons? They’re still young... they don’t know anything..."
The man seemed not to hear her plea, continuing as if lost in memory. "Because of his greed and cruelty, I lost two nephews and a niece. They will forever be as they were thirteen years ago."
"A blood debt must be paid in blood."
"And one man’s blood is not enough to repay that debt!"

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